Slowly Burning
by Rosae-Sif
Summary: Happy April fools, everyone dies but Loki and Thor in this one. Though if you're up for some crying, I was pretty happy with how this came out, so if you feel like something sad, here you go.
1. Clint

(6 Midgardian years of age)

It was raining. How fitting.

Loki was sitting on the couch in the living room, doing some reading on one of the tablets that was always laying around the tower. Currently he was enthralled by a work on DNA barcoding for species identification, but he still glanced up every now and again. He was alone in the tower, it had been awhile since he had been left alone, but with Natasha and Clint out on a mission and the rest of the avengers taking care of someone who had invaded new jersey with some sort of giant ants, there wasn't much else to be done.

Besides, he knew how to take care of himself now, at least for a few hours. They would be back soon anyways, and saving lives had to come before babysitting. Sure he'd jump whenever he thought he heard something, or cast glances out of the corner of his eye towards the shadows that would morph themselves into monsters from time to time, but really he was fine. For now at least.

Time wore on and he became worried. At least Natasha and Clint were supposed to be back by now. Maybe they had gone to help with the ants? Yes, that must be it. Still, a nagging worry was forming in the back of his mind. Five more minutes passed before he remembered that Jarvis was in the room. Loki was still a little unsure of talking to the Ai, but it was worth a shot.

"Um, Jarvis? Do you happen to know if Clint and Natasha are with the other avengers?"

The response was almost immediate and came from the ceiling.

"As far as I am aware, neither Agent Barton nor Agent Romanoff have returned from their mission. However, it appears that the ants are currently being contained and so the other avengers should be returning soon."

"Oh, okay, thank you Jarvis."

His worries were not calmed, but at least the others would be back soon.

It was a full hour before anyone returned.

There had been a second wave of ants that had everyone tied up, so he hadn't been expecting the elevator to ding. With his guard up, he peeked over the couch and relaxed when he saw it was Coulson and Natasha. Loki glanced to the back of the elevator, frowning when he noticed Clint wasn't with them. He looked up at their faces which seemed somber.

"Where's Clint? Is he helping with the ants?"

Coulson and Natasha glanced at each other, he could feel some sort of shared pain between them, but he didn't understand why. It was a second's pause before anyone moved, but before he could ask what was going on, Coulson had moved across the room and swept the little raven up in his arms. Tears began to fall as spoke, fighting to keep his voice calm.

"There were issues on the mission, some complications we couldn't have foreseen. We did everything we could, but Clint barely made it back to the ship. They had some sort of poison we couldn't counteract. He didn't make it. I'm so sorry kiddo."

Natasha had turned away as he went on, she wasn't able to watch. Her own tears were slowly making their way down her face. She wanted nothing more than to be able to be strong and help Loki through this, but she couldn't. Not while the image of Clint's final smile was still fresh in her mind.

Tears found their place on Loki's face as well, his brain was refusing to function as sparkling drops fell down his cheeks that had yet to lose their baby fat. His eyes were wide as he looked up at Coulson, wanting more than anything else in the world to be told this was a joke. That it wasn't true. For Clint to walk through the door and say surprise. None of that came.

Instead what came was sobs, was warm arms to hold him but that could not bring him comfort, he couldn't remember much but an overwhelming sadness.

It was five days before he spoke to anyone.

When he spoke, it wasn't to Coulson who had stayed with him. It wasn't to Natasha, who had tried her best to comfort him. It wasn't to Tony, Steve or Bruce, who had tried every little trick to cheer him up. It wasn't even to Thor, who had barely let him out of his arms. No, the day he finally spoke again, he did it to Clint as he lay sleeping without breath. And when he did, he said only two words.

"Thank you."

Before returning to his seat in the sea of black.


	2. Tony

(Still 6, three years later)

This time, it hadn't come as too much of a shock. The inventor was getting older, and his heart had already given him several close calls. But just because you can see it coming, doesn't make it any easier. Loki was currently sitting by Tony's bedside as he slept, doing his best not to cry with his legs tucked up to his chest.

Beeps and little noises sounded from the machines around the two, but no other noises could be heard. The other avengers were off, as much as they wish they could have stayed by Tony's side, Dr. Doom had chosen that day to attack a small town on the coast line. Pepper was busy taking Tony's place in the Ironman suits, because someone had to do it. This left Tony and Loki alone.

The doctors had informed them he didn't have much longer, Loki was trying to be hopeful, but it was hard.

An hour or two passed before Loki began to speak. His voice wavered

"H-hey, Tony. I-I just w-wanted to s-say thank you. I-I know I-I c-can be-e r-real-ly hard-d to-to deal w-with, a-and s-somet-times I-I j-just coul-dn't un-underst-tand y-you. B-but y-you n-never g-ave up o-on m-me. T-thank y-ou."

He paused for a few seconds, rubbing at his eyes to stop the tears from falling before continuing.

"I-I love y-you. P-please d-don't l-leave."

By now, his eyes were fixed on his lap, but a noise caused him to look up. Loki saw Tony open his eyes and move them to him. Hurried, he sprung out of his chair moving to carefully grab one of Tony's hands. The hand weakly curled around his much smaller one, and his other moved to gently cup his face. Tony's eye were drifting in and out of focus, but there was no doubt that his attention was on him.

It took a few seconds, but he slowly began to speak to the young god.

"Hey kiddo. You're amazing, you know that? Thanks for sharin' a bit of that light with me."

Tony pulled in a gasping breath before continuing.

"I love you too, and I'm sorry I couldn't hold on any longer."

And with that, he pulled the kid into his arms, sobbing tears and all as he went limp, the screech of the machine not even reaching Loki as he sobbed for Tony to wake up, to no avail.


	3. Bruce

(Still 6, 1 year later)

Things had been somber after Tony passed away that awful, awful day. Loki had kept up with his studies, but some of the life that had formerly been with him had faded. It had been a hard time, and for him it was barely a few months. Still, he squared his shoulders and did his best to keep going, even if he still broke down in the corners sometimes. He had been spending more time in the lab with Bruce, it was a connection for them. Sometimes it almost felt like Tony was there with them.

Loki had been helping Bruce with his research, to the best of his abilities, in which he had been trying to reverse the gamma radiation. The Hulk wasn't really needed much anymore, with rows of new superheros being organized by SHIELD. It was getting late so he had been sent off to bed.

Some four hours after he had finally managed to fall asleep, the alarm bells sounded. The little raven bolted straight upright in his bed, tossed off his covers and darted into the hallway. Natasha was already out there and making her way towards the lab, where Bruce was. Where the alarms were sounding from. As fast as he could move on such small legs, he ran down the hallway, screaming in his mind for this to not be what he thought it was going to be.

Unfortunately, it was.

Behind the glass wall that marked off the lab, Loki could see the slumped over body of Bruce, laying motionlessly on the floor.

In a burst of magic he had never thought possible, he managed to teleport himself passed the glass to the body, despite Natasha's attempts to stop him. Green light crackled in the air as he funneled all the magic he had left into trying to heal the man before him, but much like with Tony, there was nothing he could do but sob.

It was two hours before anyone else could get into the lab, and another four before they could get him to let go of Bruce's lifeless corpse. Later still, he would be told that the radiation in Bruce's body had reacted poorly with the radiation of a lab experiment and there would have been nothing anyone could have done. No way to see that coming.

Somehow that didn't help Loki feel like anything less than a failure.

The time after was lonely and cold. It wasn't a good cold either. No, it was the sort of cold that takes over when one has lost more than they could ever regain.


	4. Natasha

(age 7 - 8 years later)

It had been a long time since Natasha had retired from being an agent, or as retired as she would ever be. Technically, she was just assigned to the protection of Loki, but that would be done either way. All of them had taken awhile to get over Bruce's death, but now he could be talked about without tears. Though it had taken even longer for Loki to allow either her or Steve out of his sight for any long period of time. Even now he got nervous when Steve left to do something like give a speech or assist in super-heroing those rare times he was needed.

It was understandable, given how many loses he had suffered, so quickly too. Every now and again, he might regress and need a night of cuddling or keeping everyone within his sights, but for the most part he was alright.

A very long time had passed since anyone had tried to break in, and even longer since they had managed to do so without setting of the outside alarms. So when Jarvis sent everything into emergency mode after having detected an unknown heat signature nearby them, Natasha was rusty on her reaction time.

There had been no place for both of them to hide, and with both Steve and Thor out, she didn't have much of a choice but to grab Loki and place him in the only spot she knew Jarvis could seal, the air vents.

What she didn't know was that Jarvis's sensors had been compromised, and while he had closed the vent, it was left unsealed and the little god could see everything.

He could see her fight off almost ten attackers before finally being taken down by a needle to her arm. The moment the needle touched her skin, Magic poured through his tiny body and exploded into the room through the small holes in the vents. The vents themselves were metallic, and conducted the magical energy rather than being destroyed by it.

Natasha and her attackers were not.

As the magic poured out into the room, it grabbed not only the attackers but also Natasha's lifeless corpse and did was Magic did best, it destroyed.

And as the magic tore them limb from limb, even the women he considered to be his mom, there was nothing Loki could do but watch. Watch as he broke them without meaning.

Later he would be told by Someone, Steve or Coulson or Thor, that it wasn't his fault. That she had been dead before the magic had touched her. That he wouldn't have been able to save her. That he was far too young to be expected to control such a powerful force.

He never believed them though.


	5. Steve

(70 years later, - 7 years old)

A flash of black streaked through the green forest, a small figure running at top speed, dodging roots and other obstacles. Coming from the direction the little one was fleeing were roars of anger and pain, and the child was wearing a victorious smirk. His hand was clutching a small golden orb.

You might wonder how this child ended up here.

Not that long ago, Loki was informed that Steve, his last remaining Midgardian parent, had a failing heart. The serum had done well to keep him alive this long, but it could not extend his life forever.

Thor had sat with him while he received the news and explained that once Steve passed on the two of them would be going to Jotunn to stay, as there was little for them here anymore. He had been told that they had about three days left with him.

He had been told many things, very few of which he chose to believe.

Loki had gotten better with the idea of death, but he still refused to allow Steve to pass on without a fight.

In this case, the fight was a battle to get the small golden orb, known for being able to extend Midgardian lifespans to match that of Asgardians. He had only found out about within the past week, in an old tome he had never seen before.

Now two days after he had run off, he was ready to return and present the orb to Steve. To save his parent.

He knew he didn't have much time, despite never having slowed in his mad run, and it took almost everything he had to use a transport spell back to the hospital where he knew Steve would lay.

The raven found himself in a hallway swarming with people.

At first, he thought they might be there to say goodbye, his grin keeping in place. Soon they wouldn't have to, but when he saw the tears streaming down cheekbones, and that no one was entering the room, he began to worry.

Dodging under people's legs, he pushed his way into the room.

Doctors were standing by the bedside with Thor, trying to console him. Steve's body was still.

Eye going wide, Loki moved fast then he ever had before, up onto the bed, shoving the little orb into Steve's hands.

But it was too late. By minutes or seconds, he would never know, all he knew was it was too late.

This time he didn't cry, he didn't hold Steve's body and try to call him back.

Magic took him back to his room, where he curled up on himself and just stared into space.

Asking himself what he could've done differently.

Asking himself why he couldn't save even one of them.

They left the very next day for Jotunn.

A/N:

I lied.


End file.
